REGARDING THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS, HYPOCRITICAL, AND IRRESPONSIBLE GOP

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

REGARDING THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS, HYPOCRITICAL, AND IRRESPONSIBLE GOP

      .

I have a rule of thumb that has served me well throughout my adult life, and it’s quite simple - never trust the self-righteous. Self-righteous people are invariably the most malevolent people you’ll ever meet, and that tends to hold true regardless to whether we’re talking about politics or religion, and there’s a reason for that. The self-righteous tend to project their own character flaws upon others, so if you ever want to know what conservatives are up to, you simply pay attention to the offenses that they're accusing others of committing.
.
A perfect example of that is how conservatives often refer to liberals as "Commie sympathizers," yet they enthusiastically support Donald Trump who's all but a Russian ambassador. They also tend to refer to liberals as "Godless heathens," while they support the kidnapping of children from their parents and putting them in cages. So it's no surprise that a full 81% of all White Evangelical Christians voted for Trump, because they've never seen a rapist (Kavanaugh, Trump) or child molester (Roy Moore) that they didn't think needed to be elected to office. Thus, in their assessment of others they tend to say, “Aw, they’re full of crap; I know what they're up to.” The reason they feel that way is because they assume that everyone is just as devious in their motivations and as flawed as they are, and then they delude themselves into believing that they’ve managed to turn their own character flaws into what are merely useful tools to assess others. So essentially, they believe that other people are evil, but their own malevolence is a valuable source of wisdom.
.
That attitude is a fundamental part of conservative thinking. That’s what contributes to the gross perversion and religious zealotry living side by side within people Roy Moore, the highly religious child molester, and the murderous bigotry and greed living under the guise of patriotism in people like Dick Cheney and Donald Trump, and there’s a constant display of that exact same kind of delusion, malevolence and hypocrisy running throughout conservative history.
.
Conservatives have suffered from this collective flaw, this blind spot in their character, going all the way back to the very beginning of this republic. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, Alexander Hamilton, one of this nation’s most conservative founding fathers, believed that the rich and "wellborn" should be given a "permanent share in government." He said:
.
“All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and wellborn, the other the mass of the people…. The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class [the rich]a distinct, permanent share in government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second [the people], and as they cannot receive any advantage by a change, they therefore will ever maintain good government.”
.
Hamilton supported a lifetime appointment of the President, after being selected by congress, instead of the people.  Can you just imagine that, Donald Trump FOR LIFE!!!?  But America dodged that bullet during the Federalist Convention that took place between May 14 and September 17, 1787.
.
Since most of the founding fathers came to America to escape the aristocratic class system in Europe, Hamilton’s desire to preserve the class system was resoundingly defeated in favor of an unfettered democracy, but that didn’t mean that people of Hamilton’s point of view would quietly go away. Instead, they lowered their profile and continued to pursue their agenda by using their wealth, power, and various strategies to divide the people to achieve their goal, and that’s what we see today.  That accounts for why conservatives tend to be specialists in obstructionism and division, and why the American people ALWAYS suffer under conservative governance.

.

.

During the 70s Howard Hughes, founder of Hughes Aircraft, was world renown as one of the richest men in the world.  When he died in 1976 his net worth was $1.5 billion, the equivalent of $6.45 billion in today’s dollars.  But today, Jeff Bezo, the 53 year-old CEO of Amazon, is reported to have a net worth of $109.9 billion.
.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, “CEO compensation increased from $1.5 million in 1978 to $16.3 million in 2014, or 997 percent, a rise almost double stock market growth. Over the same time period, a typical worker’s wages grew very little: the annual compensation, adjusted for inflation, of the average private-sector production and nonsupervisory worker (comprising 82 percent of total payroll employment) rose from $48,000 in 1978 to just $53,200 in 2014, an increase of only 10.9 percent. Due to this unequal growth, average top CEOs now make over 300 times what typical workers earn.”  So, so much for Ronald Reagan and the GOP’s “Trickle Down” theory.  Since Ronald Reagan entered office the rich have become exponentially richer, while the poor and middle class have essentially been marching in place, or in other words, losing ground. 
.
The American middle class has been in freefall every since the election of Ronald Reagan.  When I was in college in the 70s my tuition was $6.50 per term, my rent for a  two bedroom apartment with two baths and a swimming pool was $165 per month,  and I received veterans assistance of over $600 per month. Then with my late wife's salary from Rockwell International of over $2000 per month, that allowed me to get an education while raising two children in complete middle-class comfort.  But after the conservative seizure of our economy during the Reagan administration, today young people have to live with their parents and mortgage their future to obtain draconian loans just to get a college degree.
.

Thus, conservative Republicans are determined to create Alexander Hamilton’s two-tier society through hook or crook, and their reckless determination to install Brett Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court is clear evidence of that. In spite of their flag pins in their lapels and claims to be super-patriots and Evangelical Christians, they’re more than willing to support an obvious criminal and possible traitor as President of the United States, and a felonious perjurer and an attempted rapist on the Supreme Court. Just a moment's thought would suggest there's something wrong with that picture. And yes, I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh tried to rape her. After all, if she wanted to just make up a story, why would she add a friend of the accused, a hostile witness, as being on the scene? That would be stupid. And another thing that's strangely striking is if the allegation wasn't true you'd think that Kavanaugh's friend, Mark Judge, would be anxious to come forward and say, "This woman is lying on my friend," but instead, he said he doesn't want to testify.  Could that be because he doesn't want to take the chance of going to jail for perjury?
.
So again, the GOP has a history of treason and working against the interest of the American people to promote their own malevolent interests. Richard Nixon sabotaged President Johnson's peace talks with the North Vietnamese in order to help him in his campaign for president. That caused the loss of countless American lives. Ronald Reagan later made a deal with the Iranians to continue to hold Americans hostage until after his election, and they were released as he was taking the Oath of Office. In addition, he flooded the inner-cities with crack cocaine to support his illegal war in Nicaragua. And then during the George W. Bush administration, Dick Cheney leaked the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame in retribution against her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, after he investigated and then revealed that the pretext of the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq was a lie. And then there was the letter signed by 47 Republican senators to Iran:
.
“As first reported by Bloomberg's Josh Rogin, a group of 47 Republican senators signed a letter addressed to "the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran," warning them not to be too optimistic about ongoing negotiations with the Obama administration over Tehran's nuclear program.”

.

.
So the bottom line is, while President Obama was in negotiations with Iran to prevent their further development of nuclear weapons, 47 Republicans senators signed a letter warning the Iranians not to sign it.  The reason for that is since the fall of the Soviet Union they need a "Bogey Man" to justify their huge military budget that they're using to transfer the wealth of America into the hands of the top 1% of the population.  That's not only against American interests, but flat-out treason.
.
And then finally (so far), NYmag.com reported the following:
.
"Shortly before Trump’s inauguration, according to Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman, Israeli intelligence officials gathered at CIA headquarters, where they were told something astonishing: Russia, the agency believed, had “leverages of pressure” over the incoming president. Therefore, the agency advised the Israelis to consider the possibility that Trump might pass their secrets on to Russia. The Israelis dismissed the warning as outlandish. Who could believe that the world’s most powerful country was about to hand its presidency to a Russian dupe? That the United States government had, essentially, fallen?
.
"A few months later, Trump invited Russian diplomats into the Oval Office. He boasted to them that he had fired “nut job” James Comey. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.” At the same meeting, Trump passed on to the Russians a highly sensitive intelligence secret Israel had captured from a valuable source inside ISIS. It was the precise danger Israel had been cautioned about."
.

DRAFT-DODGIN' DONNIE

So flag pins notwithstanding, when it comes to blatant hypocrisy - especially regarding their professed love for America - conservative Republicans tend to be a most rare and highly disingenuous breed. They live to wrap themselves in the flag as if it's their personal security blanket, yet, when it comes to their horrendous assault on the nation and the American people - like shutting down the government, needlessly putting our troops in harm's way, refusing to support our vets (after they've outlived their usefulness on the battlefield), continually holding the American people hostage for the benefit of their wealthy cronies, and their blatant obstruction of any and every attempt to provide economic relief for the average American - they're prepared to engage in the most ridiculously illogical contortions to try to justify their unconscionable behavior.  Even as we speak they're trying to take away the benefits of the American people, such as social Security and Medicare, to pay for their $1.5 trillion tax giveaway to the rich. They treat the American people like we're stupid.  They slap us in the face, and then lecture us for causing them to injure their hand.  

.

.

Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
.
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

Sphere: Related Content

BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT

.

I like Bernie Sanders. He seems to be non-calculating, and he talks common sense. The same is true of Elizabeth Warren, and I think they would make a great ticket. In fact, the perfect ticket. The only problem is, Bernie Sanders is a self-avowed Democratic Socialist, and the American people have a knee-jerk response to the word "socialist."
.
Americans have been conditioned by capitalists to revile the word "socialism," even democratic socialism.  They associate it with despotism and closed societies. So the people simply have to be educated into a better understanding of the "isms."  They have to be educated to understand that both socialism and capitalism can be either good, or toxic if taken to extremes - and at this point, capitalism has gone way off the reservation.  According to a Princeton study, unrestrained capitalism has destroyed American democracy.  That's right. Princeton University has done a study that has declared that America is no longer a democracy. It is now an oligarchy, completely controlled by the rich (http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746).
.

In addition, capitalism is responsible for the genocide of as many as 100 million Native Americans (6 generations over 100 years), the atrocities of slavery and Jim Crow, America's current economic plight, and capitalism threatens to destroy the planet by placing profits before science. Democratic socialism, on the other hand, simply means to have the common sense to give people priority over corporations, and between now and the next election the people can be educated to that fact - especially when they're hungry and economically depressed.

BERNIE SANDERS AND PEOPLE SKILLS

.

A Hillary Clinton supporter told me that one of the problems with Bernie Sanders is he doesn't have any “people Skills.” Well, that’s EXACTLY what most people like most about him. “People skills” implies a well honed ability to manipulate people. We don’t need that. What we need in America right now is someone who’s willing to just go from the shoulders, as we used to say back in the day, and that’s exactly what Bernie does. Bernie simply says what he thinks, while Hillary is prone to first commission a poll to see what words are most popular and what words are least popular.
.
In addition, in spite of the claim that Bernie lacks people skills, he’s drawing more people to his appearances than any other politician in America. The reason for that is simple - the people feel him. He's like their next door neighbor. Most people don’t feel Hillary in that way. They see her as a celebrity,  and they support her because she has name recognition, and they feel like “it’s her turn.”
I don’t feel that way. I feel like it’s MY turn.
.

HILLARY CLINTON'S MENTOR

Finally, I'd like to make it clear that I don't dislike Hillary Clinton, but I don't completely trust her either. She comes off as much too careful and calculating, and she's far too remote from the people. She's also far too much of a political animal for my taste. When I listen to her speak, I feel like I'm being "handled."  She also gives me the impression that she's much more interested in attaining office than she is in helping the people. In short, she's much too mechanical and she doesn't seem to have any real passion - and what passion she does have seems manufactured.  She strikes me as all ambition, and the people are merely an afterthought that she'll make every effort to help if she happens to stumble across them. In addition, I haven't forgotten that she's a former Goldwater Republican, and I'm also very uncomfortable with her association with the Bilderberg Society. I don't like secret societies - especially when they're trying to control the world.

THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS BAD KNOWLEDGE

A couple of friends asked me in response to this piece why was it necessary to bring up the fact that Hillary Clinton campaigned for Barry Goldwater over 50 years ago. I'll respond to that question with a question - why not? A true progressive always gives truth priority over ideology.  In fact, that's what it means to be a progressive.  So again, tell me, why shouldn't I mention it?

.

I'm a writer.  My job is to disseminate information and  knowledge, and since there's no such thing as BAD knowledge, I don't pick and choose what knowledge I disseminate. I write to relate knowledge, not hide it. The tendency to be selective in the dissemination of knowledge is one of the most serious problems that we have in this country. Isn't that one of the major complaints being lodged against the mainstream media?  And it's a valid complaint, because it's led to an entire generation of under-informed people - a population of people who are merely  "edge-ucated,"or who have only been brought to the edge of a true education, because someone, somewhere, have decided that revealing certain information is "inconvenient." That's also THE primary reason that most people don't know the many contributions that Black people have made to this country, because someone decided that information was inconvenient.

.

Thus, the fact that Hillary Clinton was a part of the Barry Goldwater campaign in her youth may be quite significant to a person who wasn't cognizant of that fact. And it takes on more significance when you take into account her current association with the very secretive Bilderberg Society, and even more significance when you consider the political strategy espoused by her close friend and mentor, the late Saul Alinsky.  Alinsky said, "True revolutionaries do not flaunt their radicalism. They cut their hair, put on suits, and infiltrate the system from within."
.
Thus, a person who wasn't aware of this fact may want the opportunity to assess her motives for themselves. After all, it's not like Hillary was a naive little girl who was simply following in her mommie and daddy's footsteps. She was so passionately motivated that she didn't simply support Barry Goldwater, she took it to the next level and actually went to work on his campaign. So that obviously wasn't just a young girl's passing indulgence.  When she went to college she became the PRESIDENT of the "Young Republicans" at Wellesley College. That reflected a passion, commitment, and dedication to the conservative cause.   
.
So to say that Hillary spun on a dime is an understatement.  Thus, the question that needs to be pondered is, did she suddenly undergo a passionate epiphany, or was her sudden change of direction a cynical calculation based on ambition, because she saw which way the wind was blowing.  Every individual deserves the right to make that assessment for themselves.
.

So again, why should I take it upon myself to hide Hillary's past from those who may not have that knowledge?  It's one thing to admire a person (as I do Hillary Clinton),  but let us not get so caught up in our admiration of an individual that it causes us to go blind and stupid. That's also a serious problem in this country. That's what conservatives do.

.

Demographics Are Against the GOP, So They’ve Become Dangerous.

http://wattree.blogspot.com/2014/04/demographics-are-against-gop-so-theyve.html.

.

Eric L. Wattree

Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
.

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does. 

Sphere: Related Content